Hyderabad, Mar 16 : Vandalisation of statues of Andhra icons during the recent pro-Telengana march here has sparked a massive public outcry from prominent Telugu writers, poets, social activists and political leaders mainly from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.
Members of the state Legislative Assembly as well as legislative council, cutting across political lines, have condemned the vandalism and the upper house passed a resolution urging the government to re-install the statues. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar has promised to re-install the statues.
Expressing anguish over destruction of statues, people from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema organised a ''padayatra'' on the Tank Bund Road, offered homage to the great personalities and sought apologies for the disrespect heaped on them.
"They (Telangana supporters) can secure statehood. We have nothing against it. But this desecration of statues is totally unjustified. These great personalities are not confined to any region," Garikapati Narasimha Rao, a noted Telugu scholar and poet, said.
During the ''million march to Hyderabad'' organised on March 10 in support of the Telangana demand, 16 statues of Telugu personalities were either vandalised, uprooted or broken and thrown into the Hussain Sagar lake.
Some of the desecrated statues were that of King Sri Krishnadevaraya, whose reign is hailed as ''golden era'' in the annals of Indian history, ancient poet Yerrapragada, who translated Mahabharat into Telugu, saint-composer Annamayya, who sang songs in praise of Lord Venkateswara, and social reformer Kandukuri Veeresalingam, who championed the cause of widow marriages in the early 20th century, and Gurram Jashua, a great Dalit poet..
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